Re: A Fight She Never Won [Akira/Hana]

Tue Sep 10, 2024 7:29 pm

A Fight She Never Won [Akira/Hana] - Page 2 Hana_PostingHeader24

Enter: Hana Aoyama

"Stop!" Hana's voice cracked in desperation as another Sho slammed into her, buckling her leg, and sending her crashing to the floor. Pain exploded in both of her legs, each now useless beneath her. Trembling, she struggled to rise, her legs shaking uncontrollably, refusing to obey. Her hands pressed against the cold ground, pushing with all her strength, but her body betrayed her… Weak, fragile, and exposed. Fear clawed at her insides, realizing how pathetic she was.

And then it all clicked... His words finally sank in, and they shattered Hana's mind. 'Was this... all because of me?' Hana thought, her heart pounding as the chaos around her became a blur of explosions and distant screams. She could still see the bodies she had passed on her way here, lifeless and cold. Had this man truly led them all to this destruction? If she had killed him before... could it have been prevented? The thought paralyzed her. As Akira approached, she stood frozen, unable to move, her body locked under the weight of her own guilt and disbelief.

'Hana, honey, move. Hana move. HANA MOVE.'

'I... deserve t-...'

'HANA!'

End Post

Tue Sep 10, 2024 9:51 pm

“Some men just don’t know when to drop a bad hand,” called a new voice, familiar to both below. Standing on the roofing of one of the nearby building was a familiar figure, his blade leaning across his shoulders as he glared down at the scene below. Joshua did not look like his normal self. His form showed obvious signs of conflict; several light cuts and abrasions across his upper torso and arms with tears and dirt strewn about his coat. Maybe those weren’t odd however, given the current climate. His eyes were a different story, for both Hana and Akira. Hana had always seen Joshua joking and lazy, easy words and blithe confidence riding high. Akira, in their last skirmish, had seen a seriousness but mostly Joshua had still been quipping and his eyes had been confident if focused. He’d been smirking at the challenge.

Now, Joshua wore a smile sharp as a father’s rebuke and his eyes held murder in them.

“You are proving yerself to be as much the monster as ya were ever called to be. Don’t much matter now then if they were wrong to call ya that, you’ve made yerself into exactly what they wanted. Best stop cryin ‘bout it now, and hidin’ behind every other being’s actions but yer own. Least for the last few minutes ya get,” Joshua said, before vanishing. He appeared between Hana and Akira, blade held at his side now.
“Sing in their bones, Naru Kōri,” he called, almost more of a reaction on instinct than a real call. Naru Kōri had not answered his call in weeks. Today, something was different though. There was no objection, no frosty rejection, no words. She simply appeared, Joshua’s blade shifting form in his hand. He took a stance.

Wed Sep 11, 2024 2:28 am

A Fight She Never Won [Akira/Hana] - Page 2 24HSuN4

HABAKI KOGA | STRAY DOG

Truth be told, Koga knew he wasn't in the best condition right now. His body was already mired with several burn marks and his ego was wounded well beyond what he expected today. By all accounts, he should have been resting right now. Shura had brought him to be healed by one of the members of the healing squad, but he couldn't quite shake one potential factor. Where was Hana? What was she doing?

He didn't doubt her ability, but he knew wholeheartedly that her mentality for war, for an invasion of this level, was ill-equipped. That single factor is what prompted him, despite the objections of others, to set out and find her. He was familiar with her spiritual pressure. All he needed to do was find her, take her somewhere safe, and be done with this nightmare of a day already.

There, in the distance, he heard her voice, recognized her spiritual pressure, and immediately leaped over the building Joshua occupied seconds ago, despite the pain assaulting his legs right now. He saw Akira, he saw Joshua, and he saw... Hana. At that moment, nothing else mattered but ensuring her safety. Even with his zanpakuto unreleased, he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was cutting that bastard down. A burst of shunpo carried his body forward, his sword upraised, as he aimed to swing his katana at Akira's neck.

"Bastard!!!"

END POST

Wed Sep 11, 2024 7:45 pm

A Fight She Never Won [Akira/Hana] - Page 2 EDGYY

AKIRA TAIRITSU

Akira blinked in silence at the introduction of Joshua, a raised brow following suit as the Vizard only could inhale sharply at this interjection. It was the calm before the crashing tsunami, an echoing depth to the man's reiatsu as he began to deplete it entirely. Zathrusta was quicker to react than he was, hearing that statement for the first time? Elicited a cruel smirk. They’d both die in accordance to the whim of the cleansing tide, right now.

."Then there’s this asshole, peel his fucking flesh for getting in our way!”

Yet his senses picked up another, a shrieking statement of an ape by the vague outline of his method of attack seemed to be abundantly obviously. The sound of a shunpo, responded with a snap of fingers as Akira’s left hand already swiped in a crescent cleaving motion, heat rising almost instantaneously before a blue flame erupted from the palm. It sizzled, coiling as it had been enhanced with a brutal thickness that easily extended in the barrier of the attack itself, using all remaining reiatsu for such a burst of brutal energy that streamed akin to an oncoming, akin to magma as it flowed.

."Hadō 33: Sokatsui! Wash away into the tide you insufferable cockroaches!”

Yet as the magma like flame spewed forth around the surrounding area, Akira found himself dazed and the shikai reverting to its sealed state. The soft stumbles of a man who was exhausted, gone and out of the fight, his back hitting nearby debri whilst heavy pants escaped his lips. Maybe now he could rest? Now he could sleep?.....

END OF POST

Wed Sep 11, 2024 8:22 pm

Enter: Hana Aoyama

Hana was sinking, drowning in darkness of her own mind, so consumed by it that when she first heard the voice, it barely registered. The crushing weight of guilt pressed down on her, smothering her thoughts, convincing her that she was the cause of it all. Her eyes were wide, pupils blown with fear, jaw dropped, and her body was shaking uncontrollably as sweat dripped down her face.

‘Who... is... he?’ The thought echoed in Hana's mind, her naivety twisting the truth into something far darker. She truly believed the man standing before her was the orchestrator of all the chaos that had torn through the Soul Society. Every life lost, every soul destroyed—it all came back to him. And that meant it was her fault, since her inadequacy allowed him to continue walking free. She should have killed him that day. She had the chance, but she failed, and now, every death… was on her…

Josh’s voice broke through the chaos, gradually pulling her attention back to him, though her heart felt like it was spiraling... In a broken, fragile, fearful whimper, she finally managed to speak, “Josh… I… didn’t mean to… I promise, I did-.”

The second voice snapped Hana further from her trance, her head whipping around just in time to see Koga charging at Akira. Fear surged through her. With everything she had just learned about that man—his power, his ruthlessness—even in his weakened state, she knew Koga and Josh together might not be enough to stop him. A wave of worry flooded her chest, her heart pounding as dread took hold.

Pain shot through her legs, rendering her unable to move, helpless as the scene unfolded before her. Desperation clawed at her mind as she reached out to Koga's back, wanting to stop him, tears spilling down her face. "PLEASE, NOOOOOOO!" she screamed, her voice raw with terror, a guttural shriek echoing through the air. And less than a second later, her vision was overwhelmed by blue flame...

End Post

Wed Sep 11, 2024 10:55 pm

Things changed quickly; Joshua had expected to end up fighting Akira here and now obviously. He’d been about to move when someone new he did not know charged in ahead of him. That suited him fine, Joshua was fine playing backup here and grabbing the opening for a kill but instead Akira went for the nuclear option.

Somewhat literally.

Joshua sensed the Kidō forming, saw the glow as Akira began the motion to unleash the destructive wave. He could get out of the way in time he was pretty sure.

But not with Hana.

There was no other hand to play here; Joshua wasn’t the kind of man to leave a friend in the way of something like what Akira was letting loose. He reached out and grabbed Hana and Shunpo’d back, trying to put as much distance as he could between them and the blast. Carrying someone though he did not have the speed to clear the destructive wake’s range. At the last moment, Joshua dropped to a knee and put as much of his body between the blast and Hana as he could manage, bringing his left arm up to cover his face from the blast. Turned out, that was a very lucky choice. The fire wasn’t a regular Kidō, that much even Joshua could tell. This shit burned sure, but it was sticking to him. It was trying to burn through him. This was more like magma than flame, and Joshua didn’t have many options. To clung to his left side; leg, torso, and arm and they all screamed in agony at him.

Only one card to play with something like that.

Joshua flipped his grip on Naru Kōri, brought the tip of the blade down to his foot, and pulled. He traced a deep line of pain up his leg, hip, and torso as he cut deep with his own blade, then repeated the action in reverse down his arm. And as he did, ice blossomed out of the wound. It wouldn’t neutralize the burn entirely, but it would buy him time.

Time seemed to be the chip he was lowest on too.

Akira looked spent after that, and if Joshua had the time he imagined he could finish off this bastard who had proven to be more of a threat than he’d first though. There were presences closing in on them though, dangerous ones. Joshua hadn’t had many run-ins with Arrancar, but this didn’t seem the time to up that tally. Add to that the fact that while Joshua had bought himself time to deal with this magma, Hana hadn’t gotten off clean either. That man who had jumped in to help had gotten it worse.

Once more, only one card to play here.

Joshua reached over with his right hand, grabbing Hana.
“Hold on, we’re gonna get ya help,” he said, all of the humor pressed from him in this instant. Another Shunpo brought him closer to Akira, but just to reach Koga. Joshua reached down and grabbed the downed man; in that moment, he shot a glance to Akira. Joshua’s eyes were cold and angry, and if Joshua was just a piece more reckless he’d have gone for Akira’s throat.

Maybe that would have been the right play.

As it stood though, Joshua was gonna have to rely on his luck that all three of them made it out of this.

So instead, Joshua fled. No words for Akira, no threats or yelling. Just the cold glare of someone who had decided that you were better off dead, then silence as Joshua took the other two and fled the area. He needed to find someone to heal them, as quickly as possible, and it was gonna take all the energy and speed he had to get that done.